Almost the instant the toy bear was back on the shelf the boy started growing. Franklin watched in amazement as the stout preschooler got taller and thinner as he turned into an elementary-schooler and then a stretched out even more into a preteen. Hair started covering his legs, starting at the ankles and moving up as he turned into a teen and at the point where his leg hair reached his knees the boy had to tug down his shirt to hide the changes happening just below the belt. His jawline squared out as he passed Franklin in age. As he passed his college years his body bulked up, muscles expanding to how they had been before hugging the bear. In moment a grown man was standing in the aisle with nothing on below his shirt. He shifted from foot to foot nervously, still trying to hold his shirt in place.
“Well, there we go, you look right as rain,” Dian said.
“What,” the man started to say then paused as he looked down at himself. “What just happened?”
“You didn’t read directions, or worse” Dian said. “You ignored them. And now you’re standing here without pants. Get dressed and get out. Or buy something.”
Dian turned around and left the Franklin staring at the man who still looked a little younger than he had before, since his beard hadn’t grown back. The man rubbed his face with his free hand, at the expense of littering one side of shirt slip up, exposing his posterior and the smallest glimpse of other regions.
It was then that Franklin finally was able to tear himself away from the scene.